~ assembling heaven, one recipe at a time

Shrimp and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta

We all have our lazy days. Some of us more than others, and I guess my name must be pretty high on the lazy people database. On most days, I am in no mood to cook dinner. Summer offers many options to eat out, but with winter setting in in earnest now, its so much effort to bundle up and go out in the cold to eat (and if its snowing, there’s the added job of scraping the snow from the windshield) that suddenly staying in starts to look very tempting. But alas, eat we must. And tasty it must be (there is absolutely no compromise on that).

Like all lazy people, I spend a lot of time analyzing which option involves less effort whenever I set out to do something. I also spend time looking for recipes which can be whipped up in no time – if you’ve read my previous posts, you will have realised that a recipe that requires minimal time and effort attains instant stardom in my eyes.

This Alfredo sauce recipe is a lazy cook’s dream. The sauce is smooth and deliciously creamy and tastes like a labour of love. With a few choice ingredients, it almost assembles itself. I used broccoli and shrimp to add substance to it, but it goes equally well with pre-cooked chicken and the vegetarians out there can simply choose to omit seafood or poultry and add asparagus instead. For the pasta, I used a very healthy whole wheat and vegetable fusilli that I had picked up at a local farmers market. I just adore how colourful the fusilli is – more so when the sauce is creamy.

Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the package. Drain and set aside.

In a medium sized sauce pan, melt 1/2 tbsp butter. Saute the onions and garlic until the onions turn translucent.

Add the broccoli and shrimp and saute for a 4-5 mins. Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same sauce pan, melt the remaining butter on low heat. Don’t let the butter go brown. Once melted, whisk in the sour cream. Continue to heat, but do not bring to a boil. After a couple of minutes, whisk in the milk.

When the milk is heated, stir in the Parmesan. Season with cracked pepper, basil and salt.

Add the cooked shrimp-broccoli mixture and pasta to the sauce. Toss to mix well. Serve immediately.